personal control

: Interesting , all the people referred to as denigrating a choice of suicide for the elderly are not elderly.and are employed by. organizations dedicated to preventing suicide in the elderly. I would suggest such an article be written after a review of the attitudes of the elderly. At 92 i have spoken to many of my aged cohorts they are almost unanimously in favor of death by choice as opposed to being kept alive and in pain or stupor. The reasons for the prohibition of suicide is promulgated by religious groups and those who profit from the artificial lengthening of the journey to death, nursing homes, hospitals, drug manufactures and some medical practitioners. Parenthetically, if women can control their bodies and elect abortion, why in heck can't the elderly chose when and where to die.

Pissing tn the ocean....

  All of the posturing and gnashing of teeth by  ardent environmentalists , all the composing of waste, ignoring the benefits of carbon fuels ,all the turning down of the thermostats and separating garbage will not stop the inexorable pace of global warming,    The only thing we can try to do is ameliorate the effects, some efforts will involve massive engineering projects like protecting New York , it might  not be possible or even worthwhile, evacuating  large numbers of people from flooded land. providing new farmlands etc. All of the efforts might well be in vain  , the only sure thing is our world is going to change as it hasn't since the little ice age. The little feel good efforts have no affect like the title to this essay. Incidentally it took 700 years for the population of Europe to recover after the little ice age.

Dementia or Alzhiemers who cares

I'm 92.
She is five foot two and one hundred and four pounds and eighty two years.                                           At 75 she was a daredevil on the downhill slopes of Colorado high country.                                            At the same age she was a 4.0 tennis player, and a bike rider who could out do most men.                     She scuba dove from Dominica to Palau, even played a tennis tournament in the latter.                           Now she lives in an assisted living home close to her son's family home.  Dementia...                                             Christ.... I miss her.

What Racial Division

According to television commercials the blacks , white, browns live together amicably and happily. They hike . shop,  share medicine,  cooking tips , parties, birthdays even bar mitzvahs..When do all these pleasantries take place  on the hour, half hour and ten minute intervals of television shows. The inter racial sharing of medicine for diverse ailments is a ubiquitous part of the television experience as is the celebration of new car purchases, and mortgages.  Groceries get a more subdued but still exciting demonstration of good buuddyship and it is still effective as are the interracial backyard barbecues and parties. I am not prejudiced I will share my thrills of daily living with anyone regardless of race, color, sexual orientation ,or what ever. Yet, I never seem to partake of these experiences the commercials extol.  It must be my sheltered life.

the supine comedy

Government institutions, the top power brokers of the FBI  , IRS, CIA ,ETC are  enamored of their lofty positions and the concomitant respect , honor and above all else the power of their positions. If they  could make them hereditary they would. It is embaressing to watch this coterie of unelected scheme and connive to exercise and preserve their authority. What is even worse ,the public watch dogs who are supposed to supervise them have fallen into a chasm of chaos , feuding between parties, which has effectively removed supervision of these unimpeachable icons of probity How can we expect civil sevants at the highest echelon of power to act when they are responsible to one. The senate , the house have become a laughingstock, completely unable to preserve the functions of these agencies for which they hold the purse strings because of the internicine warfare between the political parties. The appointed bureaucrats are stealing the country while congressional children squawl in their playpen,

On Ageing..

If you still think,write. interact socially, why in hell are strangers solicitous of your welfare. Not that I object to to people holding doors open for me, in fact I think it's cute . What is annoying is the the complete lack of business opurtunities since all the people I knew are dead or feeble and of course not functioning any more. It is my own fault I should have kept an office open downtown and cultivated the rising movers in  the business world and made myself available to them. Now I am a relic of former glories.

Hiding in plain sight

Absolutely hilarious the  press keeps referring to a group of thugs calling themselves anti-fascist as Antifa while they emulate the antics of Hitler's Brown shirts and Mussolini's. Black shirts  That is not to say they are are any worse in their zealotry than groups they target. The disease they carry , zealotry , is infectious and no less onerous than the diatribes of the KKK and other idiots. Of course they represent themselves as virtuous  fighting the good fights but that is contradicted when they use the tactics of intimidation and barbarism common themes among such groups. Hitler's group also screamed the were saving the country as did Mussolini's thugs and both of these groups claimed to be socialists when in fact they used fascist tactics. The Antifa group should be called what it demonntrates the Profa

did didn't fiddle de dee

I have never been subjected to as much DID reporting , DID white house try to cover up, DID chair of house committee , DID Trump campaign collude with Russia.. DID  intellegence agencies leak to newspaers, DID Trump White House  get electronically watched. DID Russians have dossier on Trump .....What is with the Wash Post , the NY TIMES etc. are they so hardup for solid news they have to publish DID pieces...I am tired of supposition reporting , if they'd all stop their crass cackling perhaps there is some news to be had instead of innuendo..

All Are Not Criminals But All Are Not Innocents

This is idiocy , we have two new murder suspects in Denver These are not gardeners, maids or painters. These two are people who have been deported for felonies and have re-entered  the country. These are not nice people like the lady seeking sanctuary  in  the church. These  are criminals who having been deported and make sport of the immigration laws. Why can we not have a law that makes re-entry after deportation for a felony a criminal offense. I know the much reviled Bill O'reilly proposed a "Kates" law to do this but it can't get through  the legislature perhaps because it is O'reilly sponsoring it .Can't  we have a "peoples " law to  stop this idiocy.

First time in life ashamed of country

The one constant I have been able to rely on, in war,in peace,in depression ,and inflation is the peaceful transition of power from on president to another. The good of the country has always taken precedence over the narrow prejudices of power. There may have been hacking of both political parties by  whom ,is conjecture and the release of hacks may have been more injurious to Clinton but for the president of the United States to suggest collusion between the Trump group and Putin is despicable. If Putin wanted to upset the election and destroy America he has succeeded with the unwitting or malicious aid of the president of the United States.

The vilified white voter of the red counties

The election of Donald Trump is directly attributable to  the media and political elite of the East and West coasts. The Ivy league oligarchy ( which I reluctantly admit I amm smeared with) has demeaned and reviled middle America as a racist, mean spirited , bible thumping, gun-toting society of rednecks. That the learned savants of Yale and Harvard in law and sociology have an intellectual lock  on all the admirable attributes of society while the ignoble savages of middle America wallow in social depravity. This attitude is reflected in The NYtimes, The Washington Post, The major media networks , the many hollywood journals, the LA times (tho Stanford gets a pass).  The problem is that these sources of talking heads talk to each other and re-enforce their uniqueness to each other. Let me suggest there is a huge world of intelligence and talent outside the coastal counties and the so called elite universities.

How Republicans Can Win

Both political parties have posted flawed candidates. The dishonest former Secretary of State and a bombastic, race bater. The Republican conventioneers could disavow the nomination of Trump and lose a number of his unreasonable adherents  but retain many of his supporters by insisting on border security , With Scott Walker  , Paul Ryan or Marco Rubio  the Republicans could show their solidarity with the reasonable element of the country and shame the democrats with their witch of wall street   candidate. The Republicans ,by disavowing Trump even pick up Bernie's disaffected followers by  showing a reasonableness and concern for the country.

A Modest Proposal

President Obama and governor Terry Mcauliffe are disturbed by the imbalance of of white and black incarcerated people when compared to the population in general. The solution by the president was to release 20,000  "minor" offenders and by the governor to restore civil rights of voting (a blatantly political move) . I have a proposal that would solve the imbalance of  prison population without endangering the welfare of the nation. Let us set a quota for arrest of white people. For  every black person incarcerated we should incarcerate five whites. That would even things out. However,  we would have to create a new class of criminal acts to justify detention since whites commit fewer existing crimes percentagewise than blacks. Laws could be enacted criminalizing mundane acts like  paying attention to the Kardashians, attending Republican caucuses, or expressing negative opinions about gangsta rap.

oh say can you pee

While I sympathize with the transgender people the argument of none neutered mails using women's restrooms seems  a tempest in a peepot. The problem is not with the transgenderd the problem is with the pederasts and exhibitionist who will take advantage of  young girls using public bathrooms. The best estimates i can find of the transgender population is .03 percent to .05 percent of the  population which i assume consists of half male and half female so the male problem affects  about .02 percent of the population a good many of whom I suspect have been using male johns for years. The question then becomes should a large population of young girls be put at risk for the benefit of a small number of unchanged men. There is obviously no problem with people who have completed a transition or are in the process.   Well I'll let Solomon decide this one I don't think we should leave it up to the NBA, NFL, Google , or pressure groups.

eight years and reality still eludes

MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008

wishing won't make it so

Reality eludes our political leaders. They seem to believe that what they wish for will happen. Examples abound , they believe that energy independence can be achieved though conservation and uninvented substitutes for petroleum. They believe that converting food to fuel is without repercussions. They believe that global warming is ethnogenicaly caused and we can combat it by reducing our "carbon footprint". They believe that militant Islam is not a threat to the West and if we accede to demands it will go away. Perhaps they should recognize reality. If we wish energy independence we must have more domestic oil production , we must use clean coal and nuclear energy. We must stop production of the environmentally damaging and useless ethanol.If global warming is a threat we should be preparing for change rather than trying to prevent the inevitable. Militant Islamists have openly declared their intention to destroy the West. We cannot ignore them as we ignored the open declarations in "Mein Kampf" and allow them to use the democratic egaleterian processes of the West to accomplish their purposes. Wishing can get votes but facing reality is survival.

obama's legacy

Obama's legacy is a nuclear arms race in the middle east among our former client states Egypt. Saudi Arabia, Jordan et  al. who are now dancing with the Russians to obtain nuclear materials. Can I fault them?  Hell no. They no longer trust the United States to help protect them from Iranian supported terrorists. They look at our cavalier disregard for long term ally  Israel  and see the withdrawal of our president from an active role in the politics of the world and his retreat to a belief that he can be the great healer to reconcile Islam and the West. After all he declared the war was over but nobody told the opposition who continue tthei terrorist acts.

Suppose They Held an Election and Nobody Came

The presidential race is embarrassing. The best the parties can produce is a bombastic egotist,a lady who used political position to enrich herself, her  foundation , her husband and daughter and tried to hide her machinations by using a private e-mail server eg a liar, and a seventy six year old socialist who hasn't outgrown his 1930's  perspectives. Who can one vote for ? I guess the young and naive and the old and jaded can believe any of these wretched candidates can serve as  president. I can't. I will not be part of this farce. In a world needing adult judgement none of these clowns and crooks can serve . What is the fare to Australia.

Serious Matters Deserve Attention

The epherma of political discourse has some how become the course of politics.. Pressing issues commanding pages of print are devoted to problems like what women should replace Hamilton on he ten dollar bill, whether or not a teams mascot  or name appears disparaging to some, whether or not the confederate flag represents bigotry or pride, gay marriage,h Hillary's clothes, birth control devices  the fate of some unimportant frog or fish, hands up in a case proven to be false,  It also seems weird that  'black lives matter" only when killed by cops and not gang warfare and that beatings of whites by blacks  and whites killed by cops get no media play or riots.
 Isn't it about time the meanderings of the Kardashians, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Mily Cyrus et al leave the pristine pages of the  internet and press. Some more pressing matters need attention,,the huge national debt.what happens to it when interest rates rise, Tthe near bankrupt states   Illinois, Mass, California, Rhode Island , Connecticut, Maine, and Kentucky just default like Greece leaving taxpayers  on the hook for bloated public service union pensions.  The rising Chinese military, Isis Russian intransigence, Iran nuclear designs,   The IRS , DOJ   peccadilloes, the continuing power grabs of the bureaucrats at DOE, HUD  etc. ALL of these things should take precedence in any reasoned debate.

Creeping Al Sharptonism

It has taken me a long time to reach this point but i cannot explain the administrations activities in any other way than to believe the White House senior advisor is no longer Valerie Jarette . She has been supplanted by Al Sharpton. The rush to judgement and incendiary rhetoric from the adminstration in the Ferguson Missouri situation smells of Sharpton. The anti-semitic posturing over Isreal reflects the same source.Sharpton's influence shouldn't be this great upon a sensible man. Incidentally,the Catholic church said giveus the child and we will give you the man. I wonder if it works for Muslim influences as well.

pollyanna and dr,pangloss

The state department and the president lauded the "Arab Spring " as if  it were the end of strife in the  muslim world. They couldn't have been more wrong. It presaged a period  rising of jihadist movements in Iraq , Syria, Libya, Sudan, Nigeria and was only stopped in Eygpt by a strong military. The military takeover in Eygpt was decried by the state department and the president as a coup and  resulted in  most aid being stopped to Egypt. Eygpt was almost forced out of American sphere of influence. Aid was of course continued to our "good friends" the jihadists of Hamas. The result of our misadventures in the middle east is the strengthening of violent muslim activists in a  crescent from Turkey to Algeria. It isn't our fault alone , the pusillanimous governments of Europe, seduced by cheap labor, have pursued immigration policies which have encouraged a muslim underclass to infiltrate the whole of western europe which has included young jihadists and radical Isamic clergy. Is there anyone in government who can face reality , radical jihadists are at war with infidels , that's us.

Jihad, Jihad,jihadda jing jing jing

There is no choice among Jihaddists. Sunni Jihadists , Shite Jihadists, all have the same aim destruction of the infidel. Hamas at the moment in the Shite camp vows to destroy all Jews and the state of Isreal. The Sunni group is in the  midst of wiping out Christians in Mosul.  When these zealots finish doing god's work and their are no more Christians in Sunni areas and no more Jews in Shiite areas they can turn to the serious business of wiping out all they consider Infidels. Unfortunately that will include any Islamists who do not agree with  the  hegemony of either groups religous views as well as atheists,western civilization, deists , taoists, hindus , women,etc. Once this great goal has been attained there will be no alternative but a great Jihadist conflict to decide whether god loves Sunni or Shiite believers the most. Do not ask for whom the bell tolls.

Mr. Rogers Diplomat

It's a beautiful day in the nieghborhood ,  now all you Sunnis and Shiites play nice.Forget you've been killing each other for the last thousand years.  Uncle Barry wants you to form a joint government and amicably settle all your disputes. That's right,  children don't fight.  For a man who was raised in various cultures not to be aware of the differences among true believers is unbelievable.. Barry the only thing to do in a war among zealots is get out of the way. What is going to occur in Iraq is three seperate governments the Sunni, the Kurds, and the Shiites , the latter so closely allied with Iran and Syrian Alqueda, to be a threat to all governments in the area. It behooves us to quit trying to force accomodation between the Shiites andSunnis: and lecturing the secular military to involve Moslem Brotherhood in Eygpt we must reconcile with the miltary leaders. There  are only going to be three players in the middle east with any military force to stand up to the Iranian hegonomy, Eygpt, Isreal , Saudi Arabia, we better get our interests in order . We cannot force a stable democratic government, by our  standards, any where there is not a stable homogenous population. Hope for change won"t work
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consistency, conshmistency

The strong lay believers in anthropogenic climate change consistently point to an overwhelming array of scientific support for their position. A large number of these ardent environmentalists chose to ignore overwhelming scientific evidence on other issues. Genetically modified crops have been examined over and over and have been deemed safe  by a huge majority of scientists as has "fracing" in oil and natural gas drilling. A defrocked British doctor , on the basis of eleven cases , indicted vaccination as a cause of  autism and in spite of  continued debunking by doctors and scientists a considerable number of people hew to this position and refuse to have children vaccinated.  Doesn't anybody remember diphtheria , smallpox, polio, which once were endemic. I guess one is supposed to pick and chose ,emotionally, on what to believe and what cause to espouse

Confused

I do not understand why there is so much support for legalizing "pot".   We have spent billions to discourage the use of that other noxious weed, tobacco, and placed warning labels on cigarette packages telling of the health hazards of its use. Am I to believe there are no health hazards connected to smoking weed. There are health hazards involved in breathing exhaust fumes, wood smoke,  heck,any particulates . Pot is exempt from this danger? I acknowledge there is no scientific evidence of pot causing respitory disease , or cancer. There are few studies done. There have been studies  done that indicate brain changes and cognitive decline in marijuana users but this evidence has been ignored by legislators in Colorado and the public enthusiasm for legalization of use. I have no moral quarrels with  those who use weed or tobacco but it does seem that to promote use of one while decrying the use of the other is hard to justify.

Presidential popularity can't go below 32%

President Obama has a built in 32% base of popularity. The 12% of the population which is black can see no wrong in what ever  the presidents policies may be , and understandably so, is a formidable block. The social progressives , rabid environmentalists and assorted progressives and liberals make upn another 20%.  The Republican candidate must therefore work with the remaining 68% of the electorate and try to put together a hodge podge assortment of interests from far right zealots , social conservatives , doctors, small businesses and fiscal conservatives. , it is like herding cats.It is some what amazing that a republican candidate stands a chance in a nationwide election whe he or she has to 51% out of that 68% .  

 

Republicans can Blow It

The obamacare fiasco gives the Republicans a good chance to make substantial political gains. Next year, when the employer insurance plan covered people find cancellations appearing the outcry will be louder . . However if the GOP decides to give senate seats to the democrats as they did in the last election by running ideological or incompetent candidates in Nevada, Missouri,Colorado and Delaware it will be a wasted election. It is possible to elect a republican idealogue to the house or a democrat idealogue to the house or senate, chicanery helps in the latter case. It is , with the exception of Utah or Texas very difficult to elect a republican idealogue to the senate. Let me suggest to the republicans they run fiscal conservatives for office and avoid the unnecessary clammoring of social issues. Especially avoiding candidates afflicted with silly "facts" and hoof in mouth disease

You Can Lose Your Faith

If there is one thing that holds this nation together it is faith in the honesty of the president. It has been sorely tried on occasion , Clinton and Monica, Nixon and Watergate , Harding and Teapot Dome are remembered. I have researched presidents who have been reviled for their policies their private lives or personality traits . I have never heard of or witnessed a president who repeatedly and knowingly stated  lies   to the people until the present incumbent.  He disavowed all knowledge of acts by his Attorney General. He denied awareness of chicanery at the IRS, covered up the failure at Benghazi. This litany of deceptions I excused as incompotence. The crowning achievement in his parade of duplicity was his constant iteration concerning Obamacare.. "If you like your health insurance, you can keep it, If you like your doctor you can keep him" . when it was apparent to anyone who read the act and HHS interpertation this was patently untrue. The man has repeatedly lied to the American public and if his sycophants and true believers do not think this a breach of trust meriting impeachment, I do.....

Tea for Two

Of all the exercises in futility I have witnessed in my eighty six years was the continuing attempt by extreme right congress people to halt the  birthing  of Obamacare.  It was going to happen even if there had been congressional immolations on the Capital steps. After their initial efforts had been stalemated
 they had established their credentials and given their best shot.
  This was the moment to step back and let the monstrosity of legislation take center stage and begin its elphantine dance to destruction through, among other failings, technological incompotence.  The Affordable Care Act Is neither affordable to the prospective purchasers of the insurance offered nor does it offer substantial care. The policies present with high deductables and co- payments which make the term insurance laughable and unaffordable. It merely proves the adage that governmen fiat cannot make a contract  only a comedy.
 The idea that any healthy young person is going to purchase a contract insuring future health is ludicrous . I'll wait until I get sick or pregnant then I will buy it is a perfectly logical position to take since pre -existing conditions do not disqualify  a purchase, and they can ride their parents policy anyway.
 The personal cost of insurance is only one fissure in this social contract. Where are you going to find doctors who will accept government red tape in diagnosis , treatment and payment it is hard to find physicians who will accept new medicare patints, let alone medicaid.  I do belive there will be an enormous growth in concierge practices and a resulting two tier medical system.
 All in all the inransigentrightists have overplayed their hand . Even
  now after the tantrums I think ACA will have limited life in its present form.

Doubts Usefulness Missile Bomb

The arbitrary "Red Line" has been crossed. Our own Ceaser now wants to cross the Rubicon. The unintended  results of a missile strike on Syria have to be considered. First , will the Iranian supporters of Assad sit still or will their be a retaliatory strike against Isreal with tacit support of Russia , China and overt support of half the Middle East. A very unpleasent situation arising from a stupid moralistic remark. After such an action by Iran  an  Isreali response would be inevitable and I hope it would not be nuclear,  a possibility major powers have been avoiding for seventy years.
Alternatively, a military response against Turkey or Lebanon or Jordan by  a large power supporter of Assad or even by Syria would spread the conflict over the whole  region. The religious zealotry  seperating the inhabitants will not allow peacefull solutions. It would behoove the administration to consider all possibleties, since getting approval from the UN is a vain hope ,if a presidential face saving mission is worth it. Even if there is no major response the manuever is ineffective.  The acronym in the title represents my opinion.

Three Strikes

Two "boys" beat up and killed an 88 year old veteran and did not take his wallet in an attempted robbery according to news reports. Three "students" beat up a kid on a school busand sent him to the hospital. Three thrill seeking "bored youths" shot and killed an Australian student. The media in all these cases used euphisms for black thugs. In the Trayvon Martin case they reported that George Zimmerman was "a white hispanic" in spite of his father being a black hispanic and many of his relatives being black. This conspiracy of silence, brought on by political correctness, and fear of being portrayed as racist does a disservice to the black community. Until the problem of black youth committing a disproportianate amount of crime is squarely faced the problem will not be solved. President Obama did not help with his comments on Trayvon Martin and his silence on other cases. Before a problem can be solved it has to be admitted that the problem exists, something the Al Sharptons and other apologists will not do. Statistics prove the problem exists, the media should face it ,and help to find a solution intead of trying to sweep it under the rug. Perhaps then white and black fear of thugs could reasonably called paranoia.

Holders Hate Crimes

I do not support racism that is why pople like Al Sharpton etc. who find a racial basis for every interaction between whites and blacks annoy the hell out of me.  Atty General Holder is edging onto my list of race baiters. He has allowed himself to be pushed by the professional racists to consider hate crime type charges against George Zimmerman. The fact that Zimmerman is the scion of two black grandparents, has had black relatives living with him, mentored black children, and partnered with a black man in an insurance business seems incidental to the race baiters and to Holder. May I suggest to the Attorney General that the beating of a13 year old white boy , on a school bus in Gulfport Fl. by three 15 to 17 year old black "youths" or the assault by a group of black gang bangers on a white person in St Paul  Mn with no mitigating circumstances might more qualify as hate crimes. Just as the shooting of a black immigrant in Denver a few years ago certainly qualified.

lots of gall.. hospitals

I am very grateful for the attention and care I recieved fom the numerous attendants at  the local ER trauma center when I arrived there with a truly painful gallstone. Pain was relieved quickly through sedation and the next morning an ERCP procedure was performed and flawlessly removed the offending stone caught in the biliary system. The next day I was scheduled for removal of the offending gall bladder. This was performed flawlessly by the surgical team.   My only complaint with the entire procedure is that I was treated like a mushroom by all involved except the surgeons. Whenever I tried to find out why something was occuring or if I had choices I was ignored. When I tried to discover why  surgery to remove the gallbladder was required since the source of the pain was removed the previous day, I was told so it won,t happen again. I finally got in touch with my doctor brother who told me "if its infected take it out". Prior to this I had no idea why the gall bladder had to go.. When I reported this to someone I was told it is infected. So away went the gallbladder. When I wished to leave the hospital the next day, not unusual for laprascopic surgery, I was told by the nursesupervisor and others that if I left without their consent insurance would  not pay for my hospital stay , or that I would be arrested by a large security guard who suddenly appeared these threats,  both lies, but I  will presume were made with the best of intentions and out of ignorance, suddenly vanished when I pointed out I was  a lawyer and cooperation became the days theme. Here is my plea to hospital administrators educate your staff to the law and teach them that all old people are not dotards even if opiated to the gills. Finally thank you for trying to do your best and for helping me get well sans gallbladder

Angela Corey child of scorn

It is amazing how often prosecuting attorneys will lose sight of their duty to disclose exculpatory evidence

Canute in the oval office

 If I remember correctly the liberal establishment was reviling George Bush for attempts at nation building. Now, because his favored friends in the Moslem Brotherhood have been rejected by young ,educated Egyptians , women ,those of  persecuted religions and gay people. He  and cohorts in congress are threatening to cut off aid to Egypt. This is a blatant attempt at nation building. Demanding in his statement that Eygpt hew to a democratic form of government which was rapidly becoming a theocratic state he is ignoring reality and the best interest of the United States which he is sworn to protect. Egypt as an allay is important to us and interfering with the government that is not supportive of jihadism is not in our interest. A theocratic state in the middle east is plainly inimical to our interest

Me and Hans Van Storch:flat earthers

I find myself in the company of a renowned climatologist, the lead author of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Hans Von Storch. Who, unlike politicians, is uneasy about the sharp rise in co2 over the past fifteen years, almost 100 percent which has been unaccompanied by any rise in temperature . Dr. Von Storch has said if this continues another few years, "we will have to acknowledge there is something fundamentally wrong with our climate models". This scientist has some doubts over the relationship between carbon dioxide and climate change which reflects the scientific  process of rexamining hypothesis if actual events cast doubts on a theory. The all knowing politician doesn't act in this fashion but will bend facts to serve his purposes while casting aspersions on those with different opinions. In this case I prefer to stand with the scientists  therefore I guess the Doctor , his climatologist cohorts and I are Flat Earthers.

And for our next act

For our next act we bring you "The Flying Senate" which will amaze you by passing legislation before they read it. In the immortal words of Nancy Pelosi " we have to pass it so we can see whats in it" the senate has once again passed a bill ostensibly for one purpose only to load it with goodies for special interests. Harry Reid's Nevada friends get a Travel Promotion Act and the President and Senator Sanders get 1.5 billion added to a job stimulus act. The crowning insult is that the 700 miles of border fence may or may not be built at the whim of the head of the Department of Homeland Security as is the hiring of 20,000 border agents.  The entire Washington circus does not represent reality  any more but a public relations firm gone berserk.

tiptoeing thru the taliban

I don't know how much unrestrained happiness I can bear. The Taliban have agreed to peace talks with the U. S. and the Karzi government of Afghanistan. We  were withdrawing any way  and the Taliban knows we don't have  any kind of negotiating power. I feel despair over what is going to become of all the poor idiots who aided us in Afghanistan and all the women of that country who will be thrown on the tender mercies of those Taliban zealots. The Karzi government won't protect them , that bunch will be running off to Dubai and Monaco.

here we go again

Joy, joy a  "moderate" has been elected President of Iran. Before the State Department , the president and the slavering media become too overwhelmed may I point out that the ruler of Iran is the ayatolla Kahmenei who holds, along with the Revolutionary Guard and the clerics, absolute sway over all Iranian policies. Aminjhad couldn't have been the intransigent irritant he was without the tacit approval of the Ayatollah. The Ayatollah still runs the nuclear program , the social rules, and all the levers of government .. The Iranian president serves merely as a buffer.  I will keep my jubilitation over this election muted until I see some tangible evidence of progess like recognizing Israel's right to exist without fear of nuclear attack, the end of supporting terrorists, homosexuals right to live, and womens's  rights to equality. Incidentally, I didn't consider his statements  conciliatory.....

here we go again

Joy, joy  a "moderate" has been elected president of Iran. The State Department and the slavish media can hardly contain their glee. Rouhmani was

there they go again

Jubililation  a moderate  has won the Iranian election.

too much too late

Our hesitant president could not make up his mind until too late.. The time for giving aid to the Syrian rebels was when it started as a popular uprising against Assad not when defense of Assad  has been increased by aid from  Hezbololah and Al -Queda . The weapons this irresolute leader intends to provide to the rebels ,now that he forced to act because his "redline" has been crossed , will ultimately be used against Jordan,  Israel and as escalation of the conflict occurs against the United States.  If I were  cynical I might believe from previous administration actions that this is intentional . I cannot conceive that even this President and his scandal ridden State Dept could put us intentionally in harms way so I will have to accept  abject stupidity as an excuse.

take my tanks and go home

The President dosn't want to play anymore so i guess he'll take his tanks and go home... How do you call off a war when the otherside refuses to quit fighting? It takes two hands to clap but only one side to wage war. The presidents problem and to be fair, the pusillanamous state departments problem, is that they refuse to identify an adversary. I shall do it for them , it is the powerful rulers of the moslem world, the ones who spout hate and destruction to the west and to the United States in particular. Unfortunately these people and their acolytes will not stop fighting merely because our nation does not wish to fight, and statements to this effect merely lubricates further efforts against us.  The problem the president and state department will not face is that we are facing a religous war  fought by true believers; led by people who incite, not only to ensure their power, but in most cases because they believe they are representing Gods will.
 It will be argued that all muslims don't agree with these leaders but if  there are no more of one tenth of one percent who do that is enough troops to continue the war.....Parenthetically , it is also the reason Ambassador Kerry's "bold" call for five billion investment in Palestine is laughable.

three rings?

Overlooked in the furor over Benghazi, the IRS , and seizing AP telephone records , two other simmering  scandals will pop up to add rings to the "Three Ring Circus". The most onerous of the two could be the functioning of the Labor Relations Board without a quorum. Two illegaly appointed members, the courts have ruled on the illegality, are on the board and contnue to provide a fictitous  quorum. All of the actions the Board has taken under these conditions are illegal and null and void if challenged. The administrations hope is that the cost of contesting rules will deter the challenges and that this illegal junta will continue on its merry way.
The other ring is the scandalous conduct of the Secretary of HEW , Ms. Sebelius has attempted to raise money outside the congressional grant of funds to help implement Obamacare this akin to the attempts under Regan to raise private funds in the Contra  controversy .  What is especially egregious in this situation is that the Secretary has attempted to mulct funds from entities under her jurisdiction sort of like the fellow who takes your money to protect your business.

Apologies To A Modest Proposal

1. Seventy two per cent of African American children, fifty one percent of Latino children and thirty six per cent of Caucasian children are born to unwed mothers. Children raised without a father figure in their lives are,  according to most sociologists and  psychologist at a disadvantage through their lives. This is not to denigrate the positive role many single mothers manage , in spite of all difficulties, to provide for their children. However , the decline of the families and increase in unfettered children in all communities does not work to the advantage of society. Therefore I propose a solution..Instead of the media glorifying the unwed motherhood of numerous celebrities they extol the virtues of lesbian and homosexual relationships even more blatantly than they already do. The more of these relationships , even ephemeral trysts (one night stands), the fewer sexual adventures will result in pregnancies. In fact , it may be in the interest of government to promote the homosexual life style, to reduce the number of illegitimate children and the welfare rolls . I do not recommend eating them, Irish children were much more tasty.

Another Bit of Presceince

During July of 2011 I published a note enitled, The Arab Spring Sprung, decrying the blind optimism of the mass media, the state department, and admirers of the administration concerning the changes in North African governments. That was a simple predictive article. I am now going to go out on a more difficult prognostictive limb.  I do not believe  that Obamacare will fail because it will be repealed I believe it will be repealed because it will fail.. The bill is to elephantine to be adminstered. No one will be able to follow its myriad rules and regulations . The bureaucracy needed to write the rules let alone understand the interactions and forsee the the implication of thousand upon thousand of administratve regulations does not exist.  I doubt if there are enough literate and enthusiatic workers to implement the successful operation of this hodge podge legislation. I think as it moves to full implementation it will fall of its own weight into an unworkable morass.

confusion

I cannot understand President Obama. It appears that he is merely a not to bright facile wordsmith or he has an agenda that is inimmical to the welfare of the country. If the former his economic actions are understandable as the result of uninformed good intentions , if the latter he is a threat to democracy and a champion of socialism. Socialism is the dream of a utopian society where everyone is guaranteed the same benefits in life. Every thinking person has supported this at some early stage of life but usually has relinquished this idea in the face of reality. Some benighted souls carry this dream into adulthood , usually the very successful or the very unsuccessful. The vast majority of people realize human nature is not truly altruistic in spite of some social scientists efforts to make the idea acceptable. The veneer of civilization vanishes easily when survival becomes a necessity. Socialism evolves into fascism as the governors lose their altruistic tendencies and become the beneficiaries of their positions. They then have to use forceful means to hold their privileges which of course engenders resistance. Societies change cyclically I hope Democracy can continue longer in the United States because restrained Capitalism has given rise to the wealthiest poor people , with the highest standard of living history has ever seen.

Inexorable tide

Governments follow a pattern. democracy , socialism , communist fascism. Democracy only lasts until the have nots realize they can elect politicians that will take fom the haves and and distribute it to the have nots. The uninformed proletariat will not even realize that they have created a new class of haves , the government disributors. The distributors come under fire and respond by creating a security force to preserve their priviledged status and create the myth of an internal or foreign enemy in order to solidify public approval. the populace eventually finds this situation onerous and tries to remove the distibutors only to find this process will result in further fascistic repression. The next step is bloody.

once again a plea for knowledge

I've asked, implored , begged , and pled for someone to tell me what subsidies big oil receives that are not available to any international company including GE the most important developer of alternate energy. Respondents keep referring me to various environmental sites which merely insist that such subsidies exist. One such site includes keeping the sea lanes open and allowing damage to the environment as well as tax credits for using alternate fuel automobiles as subsidies. I would gladly subscribe to a movement to do away with specific tax breaks or subsidies if only someone would tell me what they are. Please help

sophistry thy name is Roberts

The distinction between a fine and a tax compelling an act is absurd. Only a sophist of great intellectul dishonesty could make the argument. "The power to tax is the power to destroy" it makes no difference to the individual who is affected if he pays a penalty or a tax. Ths false dichotomy is a surrender of individual rights. Congress now has the power , approved by the court to force a citizen to perform an act merely by threatening to tax non-perfomance. The IRS will become the policeman of the administration. If the congress wishes they could force purchase of a GM automobile merely by putting an exorbitant tax on citizens who refuse. Of course no Congress would do such a thing, I hope

Imperial Presidency

Emperors Old Clothes

Richard Nixon was accused of trying to impose an imperial presidency. Richard Nixon was a piker compared to President Obama . Nixon only tried to thwart the legislative branch by not spending all the money they approved.. President Obama simply ignores the law. The Defense Of Marriage Act, the Nochild Left Behind, The immigration laws, and it seems anything he can subvert by presidential refusal to carry out the intent of congress. I may be in favor of some of these subversions but I cannot agree that they are legal transgressions. We are supposed to have democracy with laws enacted by a legislature, enforced by an executive not circumvented by the executive through his appointed czars. I worry that the public and press acceding to this activity does not realize that such unfettered power can have dire and and unforseen consequences.

when

subsidy for big oil

There is none... I have searched the internet, corresponded with senators, even tried to get a reply from the White House .. there are no subsidies for big oil. The depletion allowance was removed 40 years ago for integrated oil companies. The only tax advantages they get are the ones allowed to all companies.. What in hell is our president talking about...

cacacaucus

the caucus system was great for small villages it is a relic in todays ananymous society. Who has time or inclation to travel to some strangers house or some other strange destination to discuss and listen to the political opinions of people we niether know or care about. I have been to a few and have been astonished by the lack of knowledge of issues beyond the narrow beliefs of the participants , usually the host, and friends. It is a ridiculous way to chose a candidate.

i'm leaving the occupiers

I'm leaving the occupiers because, as usual, an idealistic movement gets infiltrated, and controlled by the more extreme elements who are neither idealists nor well intentioned. The arrest in Denver of a man who has a history of attacks on police and another self professed headbashing anarchist, the continuing reports of rape and groping in almost all venues and finally the interference with working people trying to get to jobs, and rock throwing violence by the mob in Oakland rob the movement of idealism. The hoodlum element and violent psychopaths are taking over. The other reason is that even the idealistic participants ignore the main outrages, like crony capitalism, the obama $38000 a plate fundraiser (no working class people there) the political appointees at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which is losing 100 billion a quarter, getting 12 million in bonuses.. Why do the protestors ignore the fact that Goldman Sachs gave Obama $436million.. It is beyond me. I guess the idealists don'know and the thugs don't care... When does the looting start

war on thrift

I can't bring myself to believe it is the federal government's policy to make all senior citizens totally dependent on Social Security and government largesse but when I see the devastation wrought on frugal people of my generation who laid by a nest egg so that, with interest on their funds, and Social Security they would have a comfortable retirement I must reappraise the situation. The Treasury has lowered interest rates so far that it is no longer possible to earn money on your savings. I am acquainted with seniors who are losing their homes because the income they expected from savings is no longer available to help pay the mortgage. They can't help grandkids or children. They must spend savings to stay afloat. This is hardly the result they expected when they put money aside each year. The government without, I hope , realizing it; is with this low interest rate policy transforming the industrious savers of the country from middle class to penurious wards of the state.

I'm Joining The Occupiers

The DOE loan guarantee program was supposed to help fledgling new green energy companies get started.We got the Solyndra illegal loan refinance mess. Then, just before authorization ran out a company named First Solar recieved 646 million for a project called Antelope Valley and 1.46 billion for a project called Desert Sunlight the first of these projects was sold to Exelon and the second to Obama's bosom buddy Jeffrey Immalt's G E. Two companies that could have self financed these projects. Another 1.24 billion went to something called Sunpower which was immediately sold to NRG. This all may be legal but what in hell is the federal government doing guaranteeing loans for the likes of GE , Exelon, and NRG.

Self appointed Self perpetuating Elite

The sociology, economic , law and soft science schools of the Northeast and their graduates share one trait, They beleive that the cachet of Harvard , Yale, Princeton, Cornell immediately confers upon them intellectual superiority to the benighted massses who attend state universities. These institutions are supposed to be incubators of original thought but are temples of conformity and political correctness. I find it difficult to discern any change in the law schools from the sophmoric ideals that I held at one time(1952) or anything original in economics since Gailbraith. This is not an indictment of the hard sciences at these institutions ,MIT, Princeton ,Cornell do fine work. It is the supernummerary departments that perpetuate old, fashionable ideas and incestuosly promote their own in nepotic lockkstep.Washington D.C. is submerged in this old boy , old girl, pool of academician conformity.

www lll

It will come and it will be between western democracies and Islamist theocracies surrounding the Mediterranian Sea and extending thruough Iraq and Iran to Pakistan. It will be a religous war , the worst of all kinds, for the Islamist countries and one only entered into for self protection by the other. Hitler gave fair warning in "Mien Kampf" it was ignored.The notion of a religous Caliphate has been around for a long time and like other outrageous ideas ,has never been taken seriously. It is to zealots and true believers.

a different america

I remember 12/07/1941 . the immediate reaction wasn't what can I do to protect myself it was where do I go to enlist. It wasn't how do we recompense the families who suffered ? it was how do we protect our country ? December seventh was a Sunday. Monday, my 45 year old physician father volunteered into the Army Air Force. He returned 5 years later. I volunteered into the Merchant Marine when I turned 17 two years later and got out when I was 19. The difference between then and now is immense. We didn't cower in fear under the protection of Homeland Security, we weren't happy about risking our necks but felt it was honorable and correct to defend ourselves. We weren't fearful we were worried and determined. What the heck has happened to the spirit of the country . Is it the fact that we have a professional army and can leave problems to them or is it a spirit that has been diminishing since 1946.

Green Gills

Bowing to reality the president reined in the EPA in its effort to lower carbon emission standards which would have cost industry 90 billion or so dollars andb the economy many jobs.. This action was met with outrage by the officials of all the green organizations. All these officials have jobs. The true believers who support them are waning in number but officials and staff salaries get paid . I can't walk down the mall without being accosted by some college age youth beseeching me to help protect whales, cows, sheep, a veritable Noah's ark of warm and fuzzies let alone trees and sometimes even people. It concerns me that these educated classes whose unemployment to rate is only five per cent can co-exist with the unemployed mendicants inhabiting the same mall. While I realize the moral superiority of those who protect the environment while oblivious to the harmful effects of many of their extreme positions. Perhaps , they should examine the more alarmist statements of their leaders through the prism of unemployment of those others on the mall.

Gore Gored

NASA reported ocean levels have receeded one quarter of an inch this year. CERN reports that cosmic rays from sun affect cloud cover, warming and cooling climate. I have long maintained that the green house gas effect as a cause of global climate change was only a small part of the total picture of climate change and that there are a myriad of factors affecting the climate, The green house effect is popular as a theory because it is simple to present and leads us to believe we can do things to influence changes. Unfortunately, reality is not easy to manipulate and the more science examines the causes of climate variation the more complex the process appears. Go buy your carbon offsets from Gore's companies if it makes you feel good but don't expect much other reward

What Benefits for Big Oil

I have asked repeatedly for someone to enlighten me on the benefits "Big Oil" recieves from the federal government. The depletion allowance benefit was removed in 1975. The only thing that I know of is the allowance of intangible drilling costs as an expense intead of forcing capitalization of such costs and I can't see how this is benefit because if you capitalize a dry hole on accounting basis that would be an asset.. I can see the ridiculous situation evolving that the more dry holes you drill the greater your assets. Canada tried this for a while back in the 50's it was a disaster.. The only benefits I can find that "Big Oil" gets are the same benefits any corporation gets under the tax laws. If any of my readers know of benefits please enlighten me. I have a hunch that the attack on "Big Oil" benefits is a political ploy to draw attention away from the money being wasted on Ethanol and many other subsidized "Green Energy" initiatives.

sauce for the goose

If Bill keller, outgoing editor of the N Y Times wants faith questions on the table will he support questioning wether president obama's early exposure to Islam will affect his decisions, or if his attendance at reverend wright's fundamentalist black liberation church will be more in ascendance. I am an atheist and peoples religous beliefs are immaterial to me, take 'em or leave'em., but does the president get a pass as a religous person on the creation- evolution brouhaha ? He has, because of the assumption that any Columbia, Harvard "intellectual" is ,of course an ardent evolutionist

Greetings Gate Lets Regulate

The congress creates agencies . The administration appoints the heads . Then agencies are on their own to do what they do best, grow. The more they grow the more power they have , the more people they have the more money they get. There are two prime fertiizers to their growth, a congress that is inattentive because it is raising money for the next election and regulations. The more regulations they promulgate the more power they have and the more employees they need. This has effects, it creates an entrenched bureaucracy and insures votes for favored congress people. The explosion of regulation over the past years is unfathomable, the tax code is 75,000 pages, there are 4400 actions criminal under statutes, now we are faced with new regulations coming almost daily from the EPA , FDA, HUD. Obamacare is going to bring a plethora of sub-agencies , an army of new employees as is the Dodd-Frank bill. There is no end in sight . Our only hope is the bureacrats will be so innundated with their own paperwork they'll leave productive people alone.

nostalgia bites

i remember, i remember the time i was a child watching the building of the triboro bridge in the midst of the depression­. when city kids wore knickers and sold copies of "Liberty" magazine in hopes of winning a football. when a rather talented violinist would prowl the back alleys playing and accepting pennies wrapped in newspaper thrown from apartment windows., when the "buy ole clothes man "toured the nieghborho­od with his garbled soft cry. when entertainm­ent for my elders was a Saturday night of penny poker , radio music and a shared growler of beer. i also remember when the WPA built many of the structures we still use today and the CCC worked in national parks. Perhaps the country needs a WPA and CCC today instead of 99 weeks of unemployme­nt insurance. ry

FDA and governer perry

I must admit I am jealous of governor Perry. He was able to get a purely experimental treatment of his back problem with the use of stem cells. I on the other hand have been trying to get stem cell treatment of an arthritic shoulder with a stem cell treatment which has a wealth of expermental experience behind it. This treatment successful with two of my acquaintances and and was available in Colorado. However the FDA in its infinite bureacratic wisdom sued to stop the practice , not alledging that it was ineffective or harmful, but that injecting a patient with his own stem cells was use of an illegal drug. The desire to get this treatment was fueled by the hope of avoiding shoulder arthoplasty whih is a serious surgical procedure. I could get this stem treatment in other countries and still may do so. The FDA ignores tested procedures used for years around the world for example hyaluronic acid for use in joints other than knees,EDAP treatments for prostate cancer and other available researched procedures. The agency belatedly accepted as true that bacteria caused ulcers. I believe that they are still frightend of another thalidomide mistake and spend more time covering their rearends than furthering the course of medicine. It may be hyperbole but i think we would still be using leeches if te agency existed in the 19th century.

Arab Spring Spin Sprung

The panglossian pollyannas who have prematurely been welcoming an Arab democratic revival in Eygpt, Libya , Yemen, and Syria as an" Arab Spring" are soon to be disappointed . The deposition of tyrants by a democratic movement is inevitably followed by seizure of the reins of power by the best organized group ; many times the military, which then imposes a new rule. However, in the aforementioned countries the most organized group is the zealous Islamists. I remember that the United States belatedly supported the removal of the Shah of Iran assuming in our usual naivete that he would be succeded by a less oppresive government . The result, a theocratic Islamist regime that despises democracy and the West. The "Arab Spring" will become a "Western Winter". Haven't any of our diplomats or leaders read Eric Hoff"s "True Believer". They are a group of innocents in a ravenous world.

create jobs and lower deficit, duh

The most effective way to create jobs is to increase regulations on methods of doing business and discouraging business from expanding. For example creating a labor relations board which denies a company the right to build a factory in south carolina. Have an energy department and interior secretary and epa that regulates coal, impedes oil drilling, and any expansions of refining capacity . An agency which subsidizes alternate energy companies which should be viable on their own and not at taxpayer expense. Of course a justice department that wastes millions prosecuting baseball players, and buying and delivering guns to drug cartels is an embaressment almost as bad as a homeland security agency that terrorizes children and elderly at airports while wasting almost 3 billion on unproven technology to monitor nuclear materials and busily preparing for yesterdays threats.

Do It Right

Save for your retirement . You will have a nest egg to draw interest from and with social security enough to be comfortable and perhaps leave something for your kids..Well, I didn't expect the concantation of circumstances that have arrived through the present adminstrations economic policies. Where one presumed a modest return, say five percent on my cds. We now look at one percent as a result of the effort to hold down federal interest costs and perhaps encourage business and home ownership.. How many retired peoople are losing their homes because of these artificial rates. Imagine someone retiring on 20,000 social security payment with a nest egg of 500,000 on which the expected return was 25,000 puts them at a comfortable 45,000 a year.. but at a return of 5000 they can't make mortgage payments.. The result is if one has heeded government advice to be prudent you have been stung.. Those who were wastrel were right .. The grasshopper has defeated the ant

something from nothing

How the media can take the utterances of the pastor of miniscule church group and transform them into a worldwide problem is simply amazing. The desire for news to report now consists of the media making news. The pastor and his church would have labored in obscurity without the deplorable amplification by the media. A report of the activities of a thirty person church group now causes , remarks by the president, generals and idiots around the world. It causes riots and attacks on US embassies. If this isn't arrant stupidity by the reporters and responders it will do until congress reconvenes.

Unholy Union

The incestuous relationship between public employee unions and public officials destroys state and federal governments. Public employees , teachers included, labor under contracts which make the conditions under which private employees work peonage. The you support me and I'll reward you system has bankrupted the states and only the federal governments ability to print money keeeps it going. Public employees are paid more and have retirement programs that make social security look like a paupers dole. It is a disgrace.

attorneys stimulus

The mad pursuit by the Justice Department of the unimportant, strewing taxpayer money on convicting Barry Bonds of lying about drug use, is totally ridiculous. Who gives a hoot if he did or didn't ? Only the lawyers getting paid to prosecute this insignificant matter. The Justice Department under Attorney General Holden is a joke.

immigrant identity

Journalists are constantly bemoaning the sorry financial condition of the publishing industry. I suggest that if they stopped pushing their own prejudices in reporting news stories the industry might be more robust. The N Y Times story reprinted in the Post reporting on high paying , white collar jobs held by "immigrants" is an example of the insidious injection of political correctness constantly encountered in media stories concerning "immigrants". The reporter neglects to mention these people are legal immigrants. The failure to discern any difference between legal and illegal immigrants is a constant theme in newspapers and leads to a , I believe, a purposeful confusion. It allows people who are concerned about the swelling illegal immigration population to be demonized as anti-immigrant.

a modest proposal

I recieved a letter from the census bureau that I would be recieving a letter from the census bureau. They were correct. I recieved the second letter with a form which I filled out and mailed. A week later I recieved another letter from the census bureau reminding me I was legally obligated to fill out and return the form.
Today the newspaper reported that unemployment fell this month,and that the government had hired a million people to execute the census. I certainly applaud the decline in unemployment but I cant help musing on the number of people employed to send me three letters. If the bureau would send me a dollar I'd contact ten people to insure they returned the census forms and we would save money and relieve the postal service.

death count

When we were at war in Iraq newspapers carried a death count every day. Were now at war in Afghanistan . I seldom see such coverage in the papers, or on TV. Is their something less about military deaths now or does a change in the administration make death more acceptable ?

Health Care ?

Why would congress pass a bill of doubtful constitutionality that we do not have the money for and that is totally unworkable? The bill will create jobs for 17000 new IRS enforcers, numerous other federal jobs, create 31 million new patients but not one new doctor. It will in fact encourage doctors to leave their practices. There must be a motive. Being an idealist , and assuming the best intentions of our elected representatives, I'll be damned if I understand the motives producing such weird legislation.

show me the money

How any of our benighted brethren in the congress can vote in favor of the health care bill when the constitutionality of the payment method is in serious doubt is bewildering. The requirement that citizens buy health care insurance when they don't want to buy it is a serious intrusion on individual rights. If this requirement is deemed legal could you see the day when there is a requirement , for the greater good ,of course, that we buy GM automoblies ?
The argument is made that you must buy car insurance to drive therefore this law is fine, however, that ignores the fact that if I refuse to drive I am not obligated to buy insurance. Driving is a
priviledge I may forgo.
The real problem occurs if this legislation is passed into law and the courts decide that the forced purchase of health insurance is unconstitutional. Where does the money come from to fund the law?Perhaps it would be a good idea to consider this eventuality before creating chaos.

the dismal psuedosciences

To be acceptable science the theories propounded must be supported by empirical evidence. Three disciplines purporting to be science do not meet this criteria. Economists, psychiatrists, and sociologists each try to use mathematical projections to quantify their theories and all fail miserably. Texts of the three disciplines are filled with formulae purporting to represent reality but merely give a surface gloss to suspect scholarship. It is unfortunate that news organizations trumpet edicts from these groups without caveat or referance to uncertainty.

Poll Taxpayers

With all the breakdowns of political polling figures by various demographic groups; it would be interesting to see one done on the basis of income tax payers and non- income tax payers. The country is divided about fifty-fifty between the two groups. Such a breakdown could give us some insight into the givers and takers political leanings.

The Chosen

As a firm supporter of a women's "right to chose" I was really offended by the NOW group chastising CBS for running the Tebow add promoting a women's "right to chose". What has the NOW groups panties in a bunch is that Mrs. Tebow ,exercising her right to chose did not, ignoring medical advice, chose to have an abortion. If one supports a women's "right to chose" you must support her decision when you don't agree with it. Otherwise, you are not allowing choices. The NOW orginazation is not known for consistency of thought.

change the test

If you don't like results, change the test. AP reports that there will be a new method of counting jobs "created" by the stimulus bill. "Any stimulus money used to cover payroll,give pay raises to existing employees"and anything funded by stimulus money whether expended or not, will be counted as creating jobs. Figures will be as reliable as unemployment figures and healthcare bill costs.

it's now war, really

Obama quote "we are at war with al queda. We will do whatever it takes to defeat them". Including giving them all the rights of American citizens

Eric Holder buying love

The civil rights for terrorist group are a large part of the democrat electorate and the administration is rewarding them with a show trial in New York. The trial will not buy the respect of Al Queda or the love of the Muslim world, especially after the attorney general assured us of a conviction. The administration will not realize that we are under attack by religous zealots who are acting in concert, waging war against the West and the U. S. in particular. They prefer to treat these terrorist acts as incidental crimes. It is a denial of reality . The cost of security alone at this show trial will be well over 100 million dollars, the total cost unknowable. I don't believe the defense attorneys are acting pro bono and neither are the prosecutors. The terrorists have a new weapon, keep trying and getting caught and Obama's Justice Department will break the treasury prosecuting your acts.

Ostrich Politics

The United States has the largest foreign debt in history. Our leaders have put a mortgage on our future and garnishment on our souls. They continue to act as if we were still a first rate industrial nation of unlimited wealth. The only reason we still exert influence is our military power.
Our politicians believe the country "can have its cake and eat it". Our citizenry doesn't want to look at the lower standard of living that profligate spending and borrowing will cause preferring to spend time with their feckless leaders promoting parochial causes. Paraphrasing Egar Lee Masters they diddle with self pleasing notions while reality roars in the pines.

vox populi pelosi

Nancy Pelosi in her mind speaks for the "American People". It is truly annoying when any politician claims to speak for the "American People". When one so divorced as Pelosi from the lives of the "American People" makes this claim it makes me shudder at her arrogance. She has claimed, against poll evidence to the contrary, to speak for us on healthcare, stimulus , climate change, taxes,immigration, and just about every conceivable topic. The only topic overlooked is her own unpopularity with the"American People".

oh president, where art thou

There is an old political joke , the candidate says well, we won what do we do now, the answer for Obama is to keep on campaigning. The president has turned over the reins of government to Pelosi, Reid, Emmanuel, and Axelrod, they are the administrators: the background to Obama's frenetic campaigning. They are not up to the job. From the failure to provide flu vaccine to the inability to produce honest figures on employment engendered by the stimulus bill they have shown the administrations ineptitude . All they have done is increase the national debt by 1.4 trillion in eight months. Even the Chinese are fearful of the economy destroying practices of this administration and congress.

bloomberg blooper

It is right that the terrorists should be tried in N.Y.federal court said Mayor Bloomberg and other savants. Of course the first thing the defense attorneys will do is move for a change of venue and probably get it.This whole mess is a political move to embarass the United States the CIA, the FBI , the military, and the Bush administration to satisfy the ardent left wingers of the democrat party. It will give propaganda victories to the terrorists and aid recruitment of bombers. It is truly disgusting to see the welfare of the United States traded for political posturing.

repeat after me

Where does the constantly trumpeted figure of 44,000 deaths a year because of lack of health insurance come from? The number has been repeated so often it is taking on a patina of truth. I suspect that it resembles the truth in the same way government figures of jobs created by the stimulus bill reflects the truth. A figure arrived at without a scintilla of evidence.

President? Obama?

I do not think Obama is a president. I think he is a campaigner for a continual presidency . As of this date he has made twenty two fund raising appearances and has campaigned on behalf of two gubernatorial candidates. He has left the task of proposing legislation to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid while he cavorts in public. I thought a president was a leader with some decorum ,not a perpetual candidate and celebrity.

lies and damned lies

Illegal immigrants will be entitled to government grants for insurance. If you don't believe this let me draw your attention to the Supreme Court decision in the Pyler v Doe case in which the Burger court in a 5 to 4 ruling insured education for illegal alien children. The basis for this ruling was to equate the words citizen and person in contradiction of the clear intent of the constitution. The result, probably unintended, was to extend the equal protection of the law to every person in the United States. Therefore if we have the government providing health insurance it will be provided to all residents. You think the border is porous now, wait.

antic arctic ice

More and more it looks like the calamity crowd has overplayed their hand.The computer models predicting global warming are being called into question by increasing numbers of serious scientists. The connection between anthropogenic creation of co2 and increasing temperatures doesn't seem to be a major cause of climate change. The indisputable fact is that over the last twelve years ,while co2 levels have increased, world temperatures have decreased.
Congressional and administration types wedded to the Goreian notion of global warming are still using the calamity scenario to advance their political careers. The chimera of achieving enery independence in the Unied States without using hydrocarbons is patently ridiculous. The awful experience with ethanol, the waste of money in subsidies to producers, the environmental effects, should give pause to further subsidies of so called solutions. That is not possible however because too many congress people can't see beyond tomorrows newspapers and popular delusions which must be catered to in order to pander to voters.

blind arrogance

I cannot understand the congress and administration. They continue to act as if there has been no change in the ranking of world currencies and world powers. We are a debtor nation with a steadily weakening currency surviving on credit extended to us by the rest of the world yet congress and the administration are profligate as ever. They continue to borrow and spend. They manufacture money by fiat and issue debt instruments without regard for the eventual day of reckoning. I can foresee only one result, devaluation of the currency enabling payment with cheaper dollars.

despair

I read the following comment written by "asalesguy" concerning the beating death of Chicago student Derrion Albert. "Witness the fruit of a city that is a bastion of the DNC. No different in other cities where democrats rule the roost. Witness the horror that has always existed in New Orleans, LA, Tampa, FL, Orlando, FL, Watts, CA, Cincinnati, OH, Detroit, MI, Newark DE and Newark NJ. Cities where the complexion of the residents are the same, the academic achievements of students is best be described as, '-abominable.' The same levels of crime, the same absurdities in business and personal taxes, the same dismal level of city services provided; cities ruled always by politicians affiliated with the DNC..... Black Americans, it is the greed, it is ambition that those whom you vote for that has left you and yours living in chaos; in mayhem. Witness those cast off's on your streets that have moved to the last step in their tormented lives; Oblivion. Vote GOP next time for what do you have to lose ?! The DNC has seen to it that you live with nothing in your hands but despair. Think hard. What's your future..." . I may not agree that a mere change in political party would remedy these situations but i agree that the corruption of the democrat black politicians, and orginizations that run these cities has prevented any improvement in the lives of the black population. It isn't whitey that is solely the cause of black misery it is powerful black political machine leaders in these cities who are equally responsable.

jimmy carter projects

Now for some psychobabble. Jimmy Carter a product of the deep south, who believes that criticism of President Obama is largely racially motivated, merely reveals that Jimmy Carter believes that people are like he used to be. Carter thinks he has overcome his bias against blacks, not likely, when he retains the anti-semitic views of his early life. When he attributes his repressed resentment of blacks to others it shows how far he still has to go to attain a color blind attitude.

pie in the sky

Popular delusions ,accidental, government ,industry sponsored and self deluding range from conspiracy theories over 9/11 to the notion that we can eliminate use of carbon fuels to produce energy. It is not amazing that we are inundated with propaganda extolling the use of wind power , ethanol, etc. when so much money is spent on misinformation by vested interests in industries which benefit from government largesse supporting these industries. What is odd is the acceptance of this information as unbiased and truthful, while contrary opinions are derided as lies and deceit.
We are told , and a large number of us believe , that we can add 40million to government health care rolls and pay for them by reducing fraud an waste in medicare, which hasn't been done in years, and assuming new programs will be fraud and waste free.
We believe that government subsidies to buy cars and homes will lead us out of recession and create jobs. We believe that stupid government encouragement of no down payment Fannie Mae loans will not be repeating the mistakes of the past. We believe that immigration problems will not be exacerbated by social programs. We believe that climate change , the new euphuism for global warming is solely the result of human activity and can be averted by legislation. Finally we believe that energy independence can be achieved without drilling for oil or building refineries.
Interestingly most people do not believe these chimeras but the political class does, because it derives power from promoting these myths..

pants smoldering

It is quite true that the proposed health bill forbids illegal aliens from receiving insurance. It is also true that the bill contains no requirement for ascertaining the illegal or legal status of a person. The bill leaves that up to some appointed bureaucrat to decide in the future. When an effort was made to include in the bill a requirement for determining status, legal or illegal, it was voted down by the majority on a party line vote. I have to suspect a tribute to the service workers union.

first in the race

As a member of the NAACP in 1942,and entirely without prejudice to any group except zealots of whatever race ,ilk, religion, or atheist: I am sick and tired of the cry "racist" every time I criticise an administration policy or a crook like Charley Rangel. The last refuge of the scoundrel used to be patrotism now it is accusing your opponents of racism.

denigrate and ridicule

Denigrate and ridicule, attack the messenger not the message. A page from the old Saul Alinsky book. The followers, our elected representatives ,Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and their president who refuse to recognize grass root outrage at the autocratic rule of a group of people who believe they have a mission to save us from ourselves by spending our money in the most profligate excesses since the Bourbon Monarchy. Citizens who have been showing up in droves, in spite of threats from SEIU thugs are accused of being dupes of pharma companies ;a cadre with which our peerless leader has cut a backdoor deal.They have been called flat earthers ,unenlightenend, false bearers of testimony and by numerous sycophantic media outlets, astroturfers,and birthers all in an attempt to deny the existence of genuine concern. I believe the reason for this is that our congressional paragons are in denial, and think if they ignore the people they will go a way. There is a name for this posture. Let's call them "Ostriches" that should serve for denigration and the posture with their heads in the sand and their thinking parts exposed should serve for ridicule.OK Saul ???

swine flu congress oinks

While the intellectual giants of democracy are engaged in spending money for bailouts , stimulus, green power and saving the planet they have ignored the most immediate threat to our lives and economy, a flu pandemic. Instead of a Manhattan Project approach to the obvious threat congress and the administration have dawdled along relying on the snail paced federal bureaucracy of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security. Two organizations really known for acting with alacrity. GAO says that in the event of the foreseen pandemic the"beds and medical supplies would be insufficient and plans to protect federal workers aren't adequate". Federal workers, what about the public. A vaccine won't be ready for several months... Why isn't there the same sense of urgency to protect the public as there was to rush through bailouts, stimulus, GM rescue etc. Get off your duffs congress and do something to speed up protection for constituents besides yourselves and government workers.

none so blind

It is amusing to see how many commentators, pundits and politicians believe that outraged attendees at congressional town hall meetings are merely protesting the healthcare bill. They are protesting congress. Congress has a voter approval rating lower than Nancy Pelosi's I Q , I believe that is below twenty. The public disagrees, according to polls, with the congress on the health bill, closing gitmo, the wall street bail out , the energy bill, the stimulus bill, the clunker program, and of course buying fifty five million dollar airplanes to ferry the members back and forth. We cannot ignore the public revulsion at the corruption and tax dodging of various members. Congressional ethics is an oxymoron. It is gratifying to see average people throwing over an apathetic attitude to government. No wonder politicians are trying to denigrate a movement that threatens their privileged positions.

tiger tiger burning bright

It's easy to ride a tiger but how does one dismount. Congress and the administration have uncritically accepted the global warming theories espoused by the alarmist climate warriors. Legislation on energy, cap and trade , clean air, cash for clunkers , oil drilling and alternate fuels and solar and wind power are all influenced and passed on the assumption that anthropogenic emissions are exacerbating climate change by contributing carbon dioxide to greenhouse gases . The legion of scientific doubters of this premise are growing rapidly. The disregarded truth is that in spite of the increase in co2 over the last 11 years , the world temperature has declined. How are the deluded going to recant, how will they get off the tiger. They won't, until hell freezes over.

clunker clone caper

With the clunker program so wildly successful, why shouldn't it be expanded. Congress could offer exchanges of energy inefficent hot water heaters, clothes dryers, washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens and electric toothbrushes. Think of the jobs that would would be created and the jobs created destroying these old servicable, but energy hog appliances. Of course the jobs would all vanish when government money was exhausted.

health care, patricians vs plebians

We are going to be subjected to some kind of monstrosity of legislation on health care. The only way Reid and Pelosi can put a bill together is by promising recalcitrant democrats all kinds of prerogatives if they will vote for the bill. That will result in a tangled mass of legislation that will accomplish little and diminish the medical care of the 80% of the population which declared it was happy with its healthcare. We will all end up under a centralized government system except of course for the privileged aristocrats that write the law. They have insulated themselves, and are exempt fom the effects of the bill. the consequence is that there will be one level of health care for us, the taxpayers, and another level for our paid employees the congress. It is quite similar to the arrangement between the patricians and plebians in Rome, the aristocrats and the commoners in medieval Europe, and the commissars and the people in Stalins Russia. If the health care bill they foist on us is so great then they should forego their status as our masters and embrace the opportunity to share the same trearment. Ironically under the system its greatest proponent Ted Kennedy would probably not be receiving the treatment he presently enjoys and he and Senator Byrd would be in hospice care.

crises to the left of me

Crises to the right of me. Adult obesity , youth obesity, pregnant mommas obesity, all are crises. Health care is a crisis, global warming is a crisis, oil prices a crisis. Diabetes is a crisis and of course education is a crisis as are air pollution, water pollution, and any number of threatend or endangered species. Lest we forget,silting of dams is a crisis, decaying bridges , pot-holed roadways, archeological sites, are all in crisis mode as are the states of California and Michigan, and the banking system .There is no crisis in the awarding of contracts in exchange for campaign contributions or jobs for family memmbers. There is no crisis in or shortage of the pettifogging and chicanery emanating from the arena of arrogant hypocrites in Wahington D.C.

oil for the lamps of china

While the infirm of purpose congress of the United States blithers its way into destruction of the economy by chasing the chimera of energy salvation through wind and sun; China continues its efforts to secure an ever greater supply of oil. Incredibly, after all our efforts in Iraq, guess which country has made the best deal for Iraq's oil? What country has Iran's oil future in tow ? It is the same one that controls the oil in Darfur, Indonesia, and is working with Cuba, Venezuela and other oil producing states to share their production. While we genuflect to the quasi-religous global warming crowd, the worlds largest atmospheric polluter continues to increase its control over the fuel of modern industry. Our peerless leaders may still believe that our economy is the strongest in the world but eventually they will face the reality that occurs to all panglossian spendthrifts.

manipulating cap and trade

Does that group of inflated egos parading around Washington enjoy being hood-winked into voting for the new energy bill.Convinced by suppression of views at odds with the save the planet crew they vote a bill that will raise consumer costs , raise taxes and cost jobs . Suppression,yes, Alan Carlin senior research analyst at EPA authored a report critical of the role EPA contends co2 plays in global warming , the report pointed out peer reviewed references that cast doubt on the EPA view. He was directed not to speak to anyone outside the EPA National Center for Environmental Economics concerning the report. He was informed in writing "the administrator and the administratrion have decided to move forward on endangerment (by co2) and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision..... Your comments would have a very negative impact on our office". I thought it was only the Bush administration that silenced scientists......

polling justice

The Congress was in a tizzy over some lawyers at the Justice department possibly fired for political reasons under Bush, ignoring the fact that Bill Clinton on taking office fired all of them. I hear no outcries from congress over the departments refusal to take serious action against the New Black Panthers' jackbooted thugs patrolling a Philadelphia polling place during the last election. Attorney General Holder is apparently comfortable with this intimidation of voters. The offenders were wearing black shirts which possibly distinguishes their conduct from brethren of an earlier era and another country who wore brown.

where do i go

I am a conservative. I believe in smaller government, fiscal responsibility, education, self-reliance, and integrity. What I hope for is immigration control, a balanced budget, free trade,energy independence and ,in an increasingly dangerous world, a strong military. What I wish for is a politician who puts his country before a constituency and re-election. What I don't care about politically are religion,atheism, abortion,sexual orientation these are things that don't deserve governmental attention in a society that is run for the benefit of all. These are things best left to an individual's conscience.I also don't care if people are white, purple,yellow ,red , black or brown. I also don't care if they are Polish,Irish , Russian, Ghanian, or of any other background. I only care if they are Americans. Now, my question what do i do with my vote ?

china's stash

While the grasshopper USA goes blithely on its way chasing the chimera of clean air , defusing global warming and bringing peace to the mid-east the industrious ants of China are no longer buying our debt. They are using the money from the trade imbalance to build stock piles of commodities. They are buying iron , copper, and grains and have stated that they will increase their strategic reserves of oil by 300 per cent. Is this cause for concern ? Not now, but will it be ? Guess. While we continue with the idea that man causes global "Climate Change" and that our puny efforts can some how control the climate the Chinese are preparing for the future whatever it may bring. While our politicians waste billions on ethanol to buy the votes of the corn lobby and Archer Daniel and hinder domestic oil exploration China prepares for the day of world wide oil and other commodity shortages. I guess it makes sense , think how pretty all those windmills of ours will look with a garden of tulips. We have placed our future on the altar of algoreianism.

where elite meet to patronize

The aristocracy of Washington and the media are blinded to reality by their incestuous relationship and deluded by their isolation from the general population. It is difficult to find a major issue in which the elite share the opinion of the populace. Gun control, anthropogenic cause of climate change,even climate change per se, treasury department, tea parties,whether business or government is better at operating things, immigration, bailouts, the list seems endless. The frustrating thing is that the plebeians are often correct while the condescending patricians are so often wrong. Intellectual growth comes from stimulus. Speaking to sycophants who reinforce your ego and opinions stagnates. When you add intellectual dullness to corruption the sum is a congress that is moribund and self serving.

uaw and treasury

Playing with public funds to buy Chrysler and and General Motors for the benefit of the UAW and the votes they will bring. It would be cheaper to pay each UAW member 300,000 each and tell them to retire. We are going to be on the hook for years to come pouring money into failed companies attempting to keep them alive at taxpayers expense and giving them an unfair competetive advantage over the only solvent american auto company, Ford. I would love to sit in the conference room when the UAW bargains with itself over wages and benefits. Under the government plans the UAW will be a 40percent owner of GM , the government a 50 percent owner and the taxpayer a never ending source of bailout funds for these elephantine monstrosities.

legal vote buying

I just received a letter from my estimable congressmen . It informed me that as a social security recipient I would be paid an additional 250 dollars, and that this largesse came from the president and congress's stimulus plan. I understand similar bribes are going to other groups including the largest to people who pay no taxes. Politicians from all over are applauding this plans originality. Bribing voters with their own money is a great political step forward almost eclipsing bribing voters with other peoples money.

inconvienent truth ignored by media

If you assume an ostrich position and bury your head in the ice perhaps the fact the the Antarctic ice cap is growing might not be as reportable as the chicken little claims that we are going to be inundated by rising seas. The fevered reporting of some ice shelf calving in the western Antarctic is in sharp contrast to the ignored report by the British Antarctic Survey based on work by the Antarctic cooperative survey that the Eastern ice area which is four times larger than the Western is growing and denser than it has been in decades. For the sea level to rise appreciably there would have to be extreme melting of the Antarctic ice cap.This is not occuring. Why has A P and the general media ignored this story. I guess they don't want to rain on the U N , Al Gore and his sycophantic congressional and administratiion followers. It is deplorable that psuedo-science is the basis for much of our political leaders work.

welcome to utopia

The congress is nationalizing banks. The congress is nationalizing insurance companies.The congress is nationalizing health care. The congress is considering nationalizing newspapers. The EPA is going to control the emission of carbon dioxide. The congress is increasing the use of ethanol even though it is scientificaly condemned .The administration rejoices. We are being dragged into the third world where bloated bureaucrats replace bloated capitalists. When a government controls banks,insurance, health, education , factories, and newspapers it will result in tyranny. I'm afraid even the ACLU will be muzzled unless they become handmaidens to this change.

fdic:federal deposit investment co.

The FDIC ( Federal Deposit Insurance Company) is an agency created by the government in 1933 for the purpose of insuring bank accounts and restoring faith in the banking system. Now, in the greatest flim -flammery in my experience the administration, without even a vote from congress, plans to use FDIC funds to insure private investment in "toxic bank assets". This will be done by insuring the purchasers of toxic assets from banks against loss. This is a perversion of the purpose of the agency, and probably not legal. Use of FDIC assets in this manner certainly does not restore faith in the banking system.

talk with the animals

President Obama wants to reach out to the "moderate Taliban". Who are the moderate Taliban? Do they exist? During the Inquisition were there moderate inquisitors? The very nature of Taliban is religious conformity . If you are not a zealot you are not a Taliban.The total naiveté of our commander in chief is appalling or his hypocrisy is appalling. Perhaps we should blame the leftist pollyannas who see all people as holding identical views and wishing for the same things in life.

mortgage garbage

Occasionally I reflect on my cynicism and wonder if I am being unfair to the habitues of Washington. Then a situation arises that enforces my attitude. The former ceo of Fannie Mae ,Franklin Raines , who is an economic advisor to the president ,not only fudged the books at Fannie Mae and walked away with millions in bonus money but joined the illustrious Senator Dodd in accepting mortgage favors from Country Wide Financial and lied about accepting such favors under oath. Will he be prosecuted? Don't hold your breath he contributed too much to Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank, and others including the ex senator in the white House.

Incredability

I will pull the troops out of Iraq (on george bush's schedule and keep 50000 there indefinetly)..I will examine every bill
for earmarks and not allow them (except for the 7800 seperate pork projects for my friends injected into the budget bill).I will defend the borders of the United States (by appointing Gov.Napalitano ,who will not recognize there is a border war underway).I will insure energy independence. (by not considering nuclear energy or clean coal only an increase in ethanol ). I will not apoint lobbyists , or tax evaders to high positions. (except ones I like) .Promises, promises another politician. Are you disenchanted too?

two hard truths

Democracy will only last until those who have less realize that they can vote themselves more. A government that can give you everything can take away everything. Not original thoughts but hard truths. At this point in our history not only do we have a realization on the part of the fifty per cent of the population who pay no income taxes, that they can vote for a group that promises them more , and will fill that promise at the expense of the group that pays income taxes. This vote will doom the continuation of the nation as a democracy and insure the rise of bureaucratic government. The voters will find they have traded their freedom for a mess of governmental pottage. The bureaucrats will determine what you need and if you will get it .The trade was economic disparity for bureaucratic rule. Good Luck

winds of change

In 1933 the U.S. government bowed to the inevitable, took us off the gold standard, and devalued the dollar. The depression of the 30's ended in 1934 and stayed quiescent until 1937 when the treasury, buoyed by this success, raised interest rates which moved us back in to a depression. That was relieved by WW II.The huge debt the feds now enjoy can not be repaid but it can be paid off with a debased currency the temptation, and yes, the necessity, will force devalation.